Psalms 120–132

Psalms 120–132 (Listen)

Deliver Me, O Lord

A Song of Ascents.

120   In my distress I called to the LORD,
    and he answered me.
2   Deliver me, O LORD,
    from lying lips,
    from a deceitful tongue.

3   What shall be given to you,
    and what more shall be done to you,
    you deceitful tongue?
4   A warrior’s sharp arrows,
    with glowing coals of the broom tree!

5   Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
    that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6   Too long have I had my dwelling
    among those who hate peace.
7   I am for peace,
    but when I speak, they are for war!

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

121   I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
2   My help comes from the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth.

3   He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
4   Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5   The LORD is your keeper;
    the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6   The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

7   The LORD will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
8   The LORD will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Let Us Go to the House of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

122   I was glad when they said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
2   Our feet have been standing
    within your gates, O Jerusalem!

3   Jerusalem—built as a city
    that is bound firmly together,
4   to which the tribes go up,
    the tribes of the LORD,
  as was decreed forOr as a testimony for">1 Israel,
    to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5   There thrones for judgment were set,
    the thrones of the house of David.

6   Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
    “May they be secure who love you!
7   Peace be within your walls
    and security within your towers!”
8   For my brothers and companions’ sake
    I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9   For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
    I will seek your good.

Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

A Song of Ascents.

123   To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2   Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
  as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
  so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
    till he has mercy upon us.

3   Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4   Our soul has had more than enough
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

124   If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—
    let Israel now say—
2   if it had not been the LORD who was on our side
    when people rose up against us,
3   then they would have swallowed us up alive,
    when their anger was kindled against us;
4   then the flood would have swept us away,
    the torrent would have gone over us;
5   then over us would have gone
    the raging waters.

6   Blessed be the LORD,
    who has not given us
    as prey to their teeth!
7   We have escaped like a bird
    from the snare of the fowlers;
  the snare is broken,
    and we have escaped!

8   Our help is in the name of the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth.

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of Ascents.

125   Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
    which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2   As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the LORD surrounds his people,
    from this time forth and forevermore.
3   For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
    on the land allotted to the righteous,
  lest the righteous stretch out
    their hands to do wrong.
4   Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
    and to those who are upright in their hearts!
5   But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
    the LORD will lead away with evildoers!
    Peace be upon Israel!

Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord

A Song of Ascents.

126   When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
2   Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
  then they said among the nations,
    “The LORD has done great things for them.”
3   The LORD has done great things for us;
    we are glad.

4   Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
    like streams in the Negeb!
5   Those who sow in tears
    shall reap with shouts of joy!
6   He who goes out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
  shall come home with shouts of joy,
    bringing his sheaves with him.

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

127   Unless the LORD builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
  Unless the LORD watches over the city,
    the watchman stays awake in vain.
2   It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
  eating the bread of anxious toil;
    for he gives to his beloved sleep.

3   Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
    the fruit of the womb a reward.
4   Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the childrenOr sons">2 of one’s youth.
5   Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
  He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.Or They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate">3

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

128   Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
    who walks in his ways!
2   You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
    you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

3   Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
    within your house;
  your children will be like olive shoots
    around your table.
4   Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
    who fears the LORD.

5   The LORD bless you from Zion!
    May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
    all the days of your life!
6   May you see your children’s children!
    Peace be upon Israel!

They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth

A Song of Ascents.

129   “GreatlyOr Often; also verse 2">4 have they afflicted me from my youth”—
    let Israel now say—
2   “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
    yet they have not prevailed against me.
3   The plowers plowed upon my back;
    they made long their furrows.”
4   The LORD is righteous;
    he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5   May all who hate Zion
    be put to shame and turned backward!
6   Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
    which withers before it grows up,
7   with which the reaper does not fill his hand
    nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8   nor do those who pass by say,
    “The blessing of the LORD be upon you!
    We bless you in the name of the LORD!”

My Soul Waits for the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

130   Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
2     O Lord, hear my voice!
  Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3   If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could stand?
4   But with you there is forgiveness,
    that you may be feared.

5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
6   my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

7   O Israel, hope in the LORD!
    For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
    and with him is plentiful redemption.
8   And he will redeem Israel
    from all his iniquities.

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

131   O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
    my eyes are not raised too high;
  I do not occupy myself with things
    too great and too marvelous for me.
2   But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
    like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3   O Israel, hope in the LORD
    from this time forth and forevermore.

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of Ascents.

132   Remember, O LORD, in David’s favor,
    all the hardships he endured,
2   how he swore to the LORD
    and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3   “I will not enter my house
    or get into my bed,
4   I will not give sleep to my eyes
    or slumber to my eyelids,
5   until I find a place for the LORD,
    a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

6   Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
    we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7   “Let us go to his dwelling place;
    let us worship at his footstool!”

8   Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place,
    you and the ark of your might.
9   Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
    and let your saints shout for joy.
10   For the sake of your servant David,
    do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

11   The LORD swore to David a sure oath
    from which he will not turn back:
  “One of the sons of your bodyHebrew of your fruit of the womb">5
    I will set on your throne.
12   If your sons keep my covenant
    and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
  their sons also forever
    shall sit on your throne.”

13   For the LORD has chosen Zion;
    he has desired it for his dwelling place:
14   “This is my resting place forever;
    here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15   I will abundantly bless her provisions;
    I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16   Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
    and her saints will shout for joy.
17   There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
    I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
18   His enemies I will clothe with shame,
    but on him his crown will shine.”

Footnotes

[2] 127:4 Or sons

[3] 127:5 Or They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate

[4] 129:1 Or Often; also verse 2

[5] 132:11 Hebrew of your fruit of the womb